Dan is a Hudson Valley–based scenic designer, visual artist, and theater educator who loves turning simple materials into extraordinary worlds. As a theater design instructor at SUNY New Paltz, he enjoys sharing the techniques scenic artists use to build everything from realistic walls to fantastical environments.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to construct and finish a miniature wall using the same principles employed in professional scenic design. Along the way, they'll explore scale, texture, painting, and detail while discovering how everyday materials can be transformed into convincing miniature architecture.

Dan's scenic designs have been seen Off-Broadway, at The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival, Pittsburgh Opera, the Cell Theatre, and National Queer Theater, among many others. He is a resident artist at the cell theatre, a member of the National Queer Theater Collective, and the artistic director of OFO Theater. He looks forward to sharing the craft of scenic building and helping participants create their own miniature masterpiece.

Registration is required for this workshop. To adopt a dollhouse and register, or to ask questions, email Kristen at kthornton-destafeno@rcls.org or call 845-563-3650.

History House is a collaborative initiative of the Newburgh Historical Society, the Newburgh Free Library, and Archtober Newburgh. The program is funded by the Newburgh Free Library.

Kristen Thornton-De Stafeno is the Programming, Marketing & Communications Librarian at the Newburgh Free Library, where she creates engaging programs that inspire creativity, lifelong learning, and community connection. She enjoys introducing participants to a wide range of artistic techniques through welcoming, hands-on workshops.

In this workshop, Kristen will guide participants in creating miniature décor using fiber arts techniques. From tiny textiles and woven accents to miniature soft furnishings and decorative embellishments, participants will explore how fabric, yarn, thread, and other fibers can add warmth, texture, and personality to miniature spaces. Whether you're new to fiber arts or an experienced crafter, this workshop offers a creative opportunity to make unique handmade pieces for dollhouses, dioramas, or other miniature displays.

Registration is required for this workshop. To adopt a dollhouse and register, or to ask questions, email Kristen at kthornton-destafeno@rcls.org or call 845-563-3650.

History House is a collaborative initiative of the Newburgh Historical Society, the Newburgh Free Library, and Archtober Newburgh. The program is funded by the Newburgh Free Library.

Dan Daly is a Hudson Valley based scenic designer, visual artist, and theater educator who loves building imaginative worlds both full-size and miniature! As a theater design instructor at SUNY New Paltz, Dan enjoys introducing young artists to creative ways of making, building, and storytelling.

In this hands-on workshop, kids will learn how to think like scenic designers as they create tiny objects and environments at scale. Drawing on his experience designing immersive theater, operas, and installations across New York and beyond, Dan encourages curiosity, experimentation, and the joy of making things by hand.

Dan is a resident artist at the cell theatre, a member of the National Queer Theater Collective, and the artistic director of OFO Theater. He can't wait to build tiny worlds with you!

Registration is required for this workshop. To adopt a dollhouse and register, or to ask questions, email Kristen at kthornton-destafeno@rcls.org or call 845-563-3650.

History House is a collaborative initiative of the Newburgh Historical Society, the Newburgh Free Library, and Archtober Newburgh. The program is funded by the Newburgh Free Library.

This year's self-guided Garden Tour tour begins at the Crawford House (189 Montgomery Street) where you will get a map and guide and features 12 beautiful private and community gardens across the City and Town of Newburgh and New Windsor. From charming city backyards to larger suburban gardens in Balmville to vibrant communal spaces like Downing Park, the Newburgh Armory Unity Center Community Garden and ADS Warehouse Garden, you'll discover a rich variety of local garden spaces, many of which are not open to the public. 

Tickets are just $25 per person and can be purchased online up until Sunday, June 7 at 9:45 AM. Tickets can then be purchased in person at the Crawford House! 

The day will also include a plant sale by the Community Garden Club of Marlborough-on-Hudson from 10am-12pm and live music by Lisa Pellegrino and Soil and Soul from 11am-12pm.

Join us for a charity yard sale, with all proceeds benefiting the Newburgh Historical Society. Antiques, books, collectibles, home decor, photos, prints, and many other things will be available. Great bargains can be had! Shop and support a good cause!

Location: 189 Montgomery Street, Newburgh, NY 12550

Date: Saturday, May 30, 2026

Time: 9am to 2 pm

Karen Pena (Interpretive Programs Assistant at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site) will give a talk entitled “To Salvage or Abandon: The Story of Saving the Hasbrouck House.” Learn how the Hasbrouck house, once a headquarters to Gen Washington, was saved from ruin and preserved as a historic house/museum in the mid-nineteenth century. Come and enjoy an evening with us at the Crawford House while sipping on a cocktail or mocktail. This lecture is free to the public, though a donation is requested.

This workshop examines the history and context of the log cabin quilt square which was a common decorative motif of the 1860s and a feature of the abolitionist movement. Participants will also get a chance to make their own log cabin squares using period tools and techniques. Adults and children ages 10 and up welcome. THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN POSTPONED; WE WILL ANNOUNCE A RESCHEDULED DATE SOON.

The Newburgh Historical Society's 2026 exhibit focuses on the life and context of Newburgh's Hudson River School painter Thomas B. Pope (1833-1891). This show explores the varied life of Thomas Pope in the rapidly evolving city of Newburgh touching on his life, work, community engagement, as well as his art. Paintings and objects from the Historical Society's collection as well as loans from private collectors will be on display from April to the end of the year.

This workshop, taught by Marjorie Politi, explores the beauty of handwritten postcards, notes and letters from the years 1880-1920, using examples from our archive. Participants will also have an opportunity to learn and practice calligraphic cursive writing and will make their own postcard or notecard to take home. 

Step into the new Great Trees of Newburgh map and take a virtual walking tour with the Greater Newburgh Parks Conservancy’s Kathy Lawrence and Environmental Justice (EJ) Fellows.  Kathy and EJ Fellows will share historical, cultural, and botanical highlights of a dozen Newburgh trees, solicit ideas on more trees to feature, and underscore the need to protect these living legacies. They will also advocate for a new era of public tree planting and park development to continue and expand Andrew Jackson Downing’s vision of integrated public greenspaces for all. Come and enjoy an evening with us at the Crawford House while sipping on a cocktail or mocktail. This lecture is free to the public, though we suggest a donation of $10.

Join us for the closing reception of our 2025 Exhibition entitled “Downing Park - A Family Haven” with a special talk by our Vice President and curator of the show, Varvara Mikushkina. Come celebrate the exhibition, hear from the curator, and raise a glass with us. Cocktails will be available first come, first served. The talk is free to the public, though we do suggest a donation of $10.

Take a step into the Newburgh of yesteryear with the Annual Candlelight Tour of historic homes and buildings! For over forty years, the Historical Society has organized self-guided holiday tours of historic homes, churches, and buildings in and around Newburgh. The Annual Candlelight Tour is one of the most anticipated Newburgh events of the year and is now our biggest fundraiser.

This year's tour will feature a combination of 15 public and private spaces, including beautiful homes, restored churches, new construction, and some of Newburgh's most cherished landmarks. And, of course, the Captain David Crawford House, authentically decorated in nineteenth-century holiday style with fruit, dried flowers and evergreens, will serve as the starting point and centerpiece of the tour.

ADVANCE tickets: $35; online sales close 12/13/25 at 12pm; or purchase directly from the Crawford House in person or by phone on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays (2-6 pm) or Sundays (1-4 pm); cash, check, credit cards. DAY OF ticket purchase $40.

Online ticket purchase: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-newburgh-historical-societys-annual-candlelight-tour-tickets-1943463905859?aff=oddtdtcreator  

Fenella Heckscher will close out our 2025 Cocktails and Collections series with a lecture entitled “Jane Colden: An Eighteenth-Century Botany Pioneer”. Fenella will introduce us to the life and work of Jane Colden, who catalogued and illustrated 300 plant species in colonial New York, and share insights gained from her research in writing the forthcoming Jane Colden’s “Botanic Manuscript”: The Legacy of America’s First Woman Botanist, to be published in 2026 by the American Philosophical Society Press.

Come and enjoy an evening with us at the Crawford House while sipping on a cocktail or mocktail. This lecture is free to the public, though a donation is requested.

Join us for Trick or Treating at the Crawford House from 4pm-7PM. Open to everyone in the community. Please use the back entrance-If you dare!!!

Speaker: Jonathan Hamilt

Step into the shadowed elegance of the 19th century, when mourning wasn’t hidden away — it was part of the home. Join us for an evening exploring how Victorians navigated death, grief, and remembrance within their own parlors.

Through historic photographs, advertisements, and personal accounts, we’ll uncover how the domestic sphere became the stage for death’s rituals — from the careful display of the body to the rise of mourning attire and the transformation of front parlors into spaces of both loss and performance. Learn how cultural expectations, gender, class, and race shaped these practices, and how the “good death” of the Victorian era helped give rise to the modern funeral industry.

Come and enjoy an evening with us at the Crawford House while sipping on a cocktail or mocktail. Light refreshments will be served. This lecture is free to the public, though a donation is requested.

Please join us at the Kaplan Hall Great Room at the Newburgh SUNY Orange Campus (74 Grand Street) for a special lecture by Marissa Marvelli, Historic Preservation Consultant, entitled “A Place to Call Home: Central Newburgh as a Vital Anchor for African-Americans and Immigrants, 1840-present”. This lecture is sponsored by the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands in conjunction with the SUNY Orange Cultural Affairs Office and The Fullerton.

Instructor: James Kelly, Architectural Historian

Learn how to effectively research a historic structure in the City of Newburgh, with a focus on preservation. We will discuss sources available in Newburgh and beyond to help you reconstruct the history of a building, along with strategies to assess conflicting evidence. Come prepared with your own questions and projects. Some readings will be distributed in advance.

For each workshop, there is a $15 materials fee, payable on the day of. Free for HSNBH Members.

Workshop will be held at the Crawford House, 189 Montgomery Street, Newburgh, NY 12550.

Register here: https://newburghhistoricalsociety.org/archive-workshop-registrations

The Crawford House porch will be a featured stage as part of the second annual Newburgh Porchfest! Follow Newburgh Porchfest on social media to get full updates and schedules for the day’s events.

Join us for a free, all-ages drop-in workshop where we’ll explore the stories buildings can tell—using zine-making as our creative tool. We’ll work with all kinds of architectural imagery, from personal snapshots and found photos to rarely seen treasures from the Newburgh Historical Society’s newly digitized archive. Through collage, drawing, and simple bookbinding, you’ll create your own visual story that reflects your perspective on place and community. Everyone will leave with a finished zine, and some creations will be featured in a collective edition to share locally and online.

Part of Archtober Newburgh 2025.